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PatInCanada · 05-05-2008, 01:10 PM

Thanks ejames82 and johnhook for your replies and advice. I too have heard good things about kapersky.

Of course I'm on broadband, here in the wilds of Alberta, just 40 miles east of the Rockies and 20miles north of the US Montana border. 2 years ago, when I moved here from Ontario, I got my internet connection via microwave, line of sight, from Lethbridge 45 mile miles north, bounced off tall grain storage bins right to the Montana border. Last year they switched to radio from microwave, hich speeded things up considerably. 100KB at best 30KB when the service is busy. Alas too much 'jitter' and 'noise' for VOIP.

In London UK, my younger brother is on 56K dial up, by choice. Frugal by nature and a confirmed batchelor, he has built up quite a successful investment portfolio over the years, all of which is he has online. The growth in malware has been explosive, estimated over a million at present with many Keyloggers included. Once lodged on a computer, with a fraudster in control, passwords pin numbers, credit card numbers are all under his control and accounts can be drained, stocks sold in minutes. As a parting gift f5rom the hacker, the hard drive could be fried, to buy time before discovery.

No longer are phishing emails the preferred method of delivery. Banks have done a great job warning their customers about these. More and more malware is being planted on visitors pcs from websites with hackers in control, far less by phishing emails.

UK banks are well aware of these dangers with fraud increasing. This Times article, November 28, 2004 was among the first. Clare's last one in The Times was published April 24/08.

http://business.timesonline.co.uk/to...icle396299.ece

Banks are warning their clients that it is their responsibilty to ensure their PCs are secure, not the banks! However they are still not advising clients to install an anti spyware/malware program on their computers nor about the danger of using IE as a browser!

A real shocker from PcWorld "IE the number 1 threat to internet security" They do give full explanations for this decision.

http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,12...y/article.html

Most people involved in security use Firefox, Opera or other more secure browsers on their home PCs.

My pc is well protected. Comodo Firewall, Anti Virus, BOClean to deal with malware/spyware. All free and unbelievable support from Comodo on their programs. Of course with humans on the opposite side, that could well change. Vigilance with online accounts is always neccessary.

I use Piriam CCleaner to keep garbage off the registry, it also dumps those temp internet files and junk cookies. A great feature is that it links to the Windows Garbage Bin as well. I have the Gutman option set, 35 overwrites, almost impossible to recover data from the hard drive. All in seconds, it sure keeps my computer running fast and again absolutely free for home users, they do ask for donations however.

John, we are two of a kind. Hardware early on, yes I remember those 300baud modems. In 1985 I carted my MS-Dos XP into Tandy to get the 128KB ram upgraded to 256KB, in order to run DBase. I looked on in awe as the technician planted all those ram chips into my computer. My how fast everything has changed over the years. In the mid nineties I went online as an internet service provider. I had intended to run an MS OS on servers, like the other ISPs at that time. Then I saw their services being taken down by hackers and staying that way for days in some cases. I decided to go BSDI Unix. A week later and US$10,000 poorer, I returned from California and built servers to their exact specifications. Though there were several attacks, none suceeded but one came close with CPU's down to 17% before the process was spotted and killed.

I am no security expert, having been retired since 2005 and out of business, just self taught and experience. ISPs, Banks etc are always concerned about security on their networks, but unless an attack is takes place we certainly don't lose sleep overnight worrying about it. Like yourselves I have banked online for your years, never a penny missing. However I do see a major threat with the fast growth of malware on the internet. Yet the MS Security Centre on Windows computers makes no mention of anti malware/spyware programs being a must have nowadays.

Agreed hackers tend to move away from dial up fast, broadband is far more lucrative. However with malware already on the target computer, it's easy pickings to drain accounts. Connection speed has no bearing on account balances. Many retirees are on dial up.

Thanks again for you help and advice. As I suspected it's difficult for anyone on 56k dial up protect their system with the size of programs nowadays. I have been bugging my brother for years to get on broadband, he certainly can afford it. Now I owe my brother a warning about his online accounts, they are at risk from malware. He could try and load anti spyware/malware but that could slow down his internet connection further. Then no other choice but to remove the online stuff or migrate to a faster connection where he can add adequate protection. A task I dread, but whether or not he heeds my advice, at least I have given a warning. Easy way is to say nothing, but if disaster struck I would feel guilty for the rest of my life.

Thanks for your time, sorry about the length and dead links. I'm a newbie around here.

Patrick.

05-05-2008, 01:10 PM	#4 (permalink)
PatInCanada Registered User Join Date: May 2008 Posts: 4 OS: xp	Re: Slow 56K dial up connection Thanks ejames82 and johnhook for your replies and advice. I too have heard good things about kapersky. Of course I'm on broadband, here in the wilds of Alberta, just 40 miles east of the Rockies and 20miles north of the US Montana border. 2 years ago, when I moved here from Ontario, I got my internet connection via microwave, line of sight, from Lethbridge 45 mile miles north, bounced off tall grain storage bins right to the Montana border. Last year they switched to radio from microwave, hich speeded things up considerably. 100KB at best 30KB when the service is busy. Alas too much 'jitter' and 'noise' for VOIP. In London UK, my younger brother is on 56K dial up, by choice. Frugal by nature and a confirmed batchelor, he has built up quite a successful investment portfolio over the years, all of which is he has online. The growth in malware has been explosive, estimated over a million at present with many Keyloggers included. Once lodged on a computer, with a fraudster in control, passwords pin numbers, credit card numbers are all under his control and accounts can be drained, stocks sold in minutes. As a parting gift f5rom the hacker, the hard drive could be fried, to buy time before discovery. No longer are phishing emails the preferred method of delivery. Banks have done a great job warning their customers about these. More and more malware is being planted on visitors pcs from websites with hackers in control, far less by phishing emails. UK banks are well aware of these dangers with fraud increasing. This Times article, November 28, 2004 was among the first. Clare's last one in The Times was published April 24/08. http://business.timesonline.co.uk/to...icle396299.ece Banks are warning their clients that it is their responsibilty to ensure their PCs are secure, not the banks! However they are still not advising clients to install an anti spyware/malware program on their computers nor about the danger of using IE as a browser! A real shocker from PcWorld "IE the number 1 threat to internet security" They do give full explanations for this decision. http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,12...y/article.html Most people involved in security use Firefox, Opera or other more secure browsers on their home PCs. My pc is well protected. Comodo Firewall, Anti Virus, BOClean to deal with malware/spyware. All free and unbelievable support from Comodo on their programs. Of course with humans on the opposite side, that could well change. Vigilance with online accounts is always neccessary. I use Piriam CCleaner to keep garbage off the registry, it also dumps those temp internet files and junk cookies. A great feature is that it links to the Windows Garbage Bin as well. I have the Gutman option set, 35 overwrites, almost impossible to recover data from the hard drive. All in seconds, it sure keeps my computer running fast and again absolutely free for home users, they do ask for donations however. John, we are two of a kind. Hardware early on, yes I remember those 300baud modems. In 1985 I carted my MS-Dos XP into Tandy to get the 128KB ram upgraded to 256KB, in order to run DBase. I looked on in awe as the technician planted all those ram chips into my computer. My how fast everything has changed over the years. In the mid nineties I went online as an internet service provider. I had intended to run an MS OS on servers, like the other ISPs at that time. Then I saw their services being taken down by hackers and staying that way for days in some cases. I decided to go BSDI Unix. A week later and US$10,000 poorer, I returned from California and built servers to their exact specifications. Though there were several attacks, none suceeded but one came close with CPU's down to 17% before the process was spotted and killed. I am no security expert, having been retired since 2005 and out of business, just self taught and experience. ISPs, Banks etc are always concerned about security on their networks, but unless an attack is takes place we certainly don't lose sleep overnight worrying about it. Like yourselves I have banked online for your years, never a penny missing. However I do see a major threat with the fast growth of malware on the internet. Yet the MS Security Centre on Windows computers makes no mention of anti malware/spyware programs being a must have nowadays. Agreed hackers tend to move away from dial up fast, broadband is far more lucrative. However with malware already on the target computer, it's easy pickings to drain accounts. Connection speed has no bearing on account balances. Many retirees are on dial up. Thanks again for you help and advice. As I suspected it's difficult for anyone on 56k dial up protect their system with the size of programs nowadays. I have been bugging my brother for years to get on broadband, he certainly can afford it. Now I owe my brother a warning about his online accounts, they are at risk from malware. He could try and load anti spyware/malware but that could slow down his internet connection further. Then no other choice but to remove the online stuff or migrate to a faster connection where he can add adequate protection. A task I dread, but whether or not he heeds my advice, at least I have given a warning. Easy way is to say nothing, but if disaster struck I would feel guilty for the rest of my life. Thanks for your time, sorry about the length and dead links. I'm a newbie around here. Patrick.